The Bhagwat Gita is regarded as the most sacred religious book in Hinduism. It is also considered to be a book of ethics, championing eternal moral values. It has been translated into various languages. Great thinkers and political leaders, both in medieval and modern period, have been inspired by this book and have also written commentaries upon it. The objective of this paper is to compare the contrasting views of Gandhi and Ambedkar on the Bhagwat Gita. Both Gandhi and Ambedkar, have divergent opinions on the Gita.

What does Ambedkar say about the Bhagwat Gita?Ambedkar was a champion of the shudras and ati-shudras in our society, therefore his approach to the assessment of Gita is entirely different. He was a severe critic of Hindu religion and society. According to Ambedkar “the Bhagwat Gita is neither a book of religion nor a treatise on philosophy. What the Bhagwat Gita does is to defend certain dogmas of religion on philosophic grounds.” It uses philosophy to defend religion. Ambedkar develops the argument of revolution and counter-revolution for understanding the Gita. His interpretation of the changes in ancient Indian society and a detailed study of the ancient religious books conclude that the Aryan community of the pre-Buddhist era did not have a progressive sense of moral values and it was the arrival of Buddhism that caused a moral and a social revolution in this society. The Aryan community of pre-Buddhist time had many social evils. Drinking and gambling were very common; they had no rules and regulations over their sexual relationships; they had a custom of renting out their daughters to others for a while; they participated in yajna or animal sacrifice; and, their religion was a series of observances behind which there was no desire for a good and righteous life. In short, there was no spiritual content in the religion they practiced. The first great reformer in this society was Buddha and Buddhism could be called a revolution in Ambedkar’s view. Ambedkar has equated Buddhism to the French revolution, because, he felt, it transformed the whole social order. Buddha criticized and campaigned against three things: he rejected the authority of the Vedas; he condemned yajna and the practice of animal sacrifice; and opposed the caste system. Buddhism was open to all, to shudras, women and even to remorseful criminal. This social revolution turned into a political revolution after mauryan emperor Ashoka adopted Buddhism. During this period, the interests of the brahmins had suffered; they lost all state patronage and were reduced to a secondary position. After the decline of the mauryan empire, the brahmins abolished the Buddhist state and in its place instituted a brahmin political order. This is what Ambedkar calls a counter-revolution and this counter-revolution reinstated brahminism. The brahmins were made a privileged class under this order and varna was turned into caste. It paved the way for a system of graded inequality based on birth. According to Ambedkar, the Bhagwat Gita was created to give ideological and moral support to this counter-revolution. What are the dogmas of religion that the Bhagwat Gita defends? Most Hindus regard the Gita as a book of ethics but Ambedkar does not agree with this view. He, on the other hand, criticizes a few standpoints on moral questions taken by the Gita. The first instance is the justification of war. Arjuna had asserted that he was against the war and killing people for the sake of property. But Ambedkar points out that Krishna proposes a philosophic defence of war and killing in war. It proceeds along two lines of arguments; one line says that anyhow man is mortal and bound to die, therefore it should not make any difference whether a man dies a natural death or whether he is put to death by an act of violence and the second line says that body and soul are separate, in the sense that the body is...

...﻿Alysson Johnson
World Religions
September 16, 2014
The Bhagavad Gita in Everyday Life
My journey with The Bhagavad Gita (The Gita) has been an evolving one. It started out as a fun story that I was reading for class but it has evolved into a story that has left impressions on me. I never thought I would really take another religion seriously because I feel like I am so grounded in my own, but I have learned to really appreciate The...

...Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar ; 14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956, popularly also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, political leader, philosopher,anthropologist, historian, orator, economist, teacher, editor, prolific writer, revolutionary and a revivalist for Buddhism in India, inspiring the Dalit Buddhist movement. He was also the chief architect of the Indian Constitution.
Born into a poor Mahar (considered an Untouchable caste) family,...

...The Bhagavad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita is a conversation between Arjuna and Krishna. Arjuna is the brother of Yudhishthira and believes that his brother should be king of their kingdom, but Dhritarashtra, who is the blind king now, wants to give the kingdom to his son Duroydhana. Krishma is Arjuna’s charioteer who tries to push Arjuna to fight by telling him what all this means and does. Therefore, a battle is brought up, Arjuna’s members against Dhritarashtra’s...

...a state of ignorance. The Bhagavad Gita (Song of God) is a philosophical discourse on the duties and the meaning of life and death. Many believe this text holds specific instructions on how to please God and stay in his favor. Either argument can be made because the Bhagavad Gita does both; helping one deal with daily life struggles and giving them a better understanding of what is happening, while simultaneously pleasing God. But is this all the Bhagavad...

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The Bhagavad-Gita: The Song of God contains spiritual details that are constructed towards Hinduism. The Bhagavad-Gita is the conversation between a man called Arjuna, and God himself in a human form. God in a human form is called Lord Krishna. The teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita primarily focus on the importance of the yoga and the awareness of the many paths to self-awareness and insight. Spiritual self-realization is the theme of The...

...ethical text of ancient India. As an episode in India's great epic, the Mahabharata, The Bhagavad Gita now ranks as one of the three principal texts that define and capture the essence of Hinduism; the other two being the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras. Though this work contains much theology, its kernel is ethical and its teaching is set in the context of an ethical problem. The teaching of The Bhagavad Gita is summed up in the maxim "your business is with the...